Posted: Sat 18 Jun 2005, 6:34 Post subject: Homemade DVD-R won't play well on DVD Players but will play

on my DVD-ROMS fine....

Can someone help me? Here is the deal. I bought some dvd-r documentaries on ebay, the discs are sony, they play fine on my dvd player and my dvd rom. Here is the thing, I then make an image of this dvd-r into my pc and burn it using my dvd-r/rw drive onto a generic brand DVD disc. I play that disc after burning the image, and its fine, on both pc dvd rom and dvd player.

But then, if i make a homemade DVD movie out of my tv programs or basketball games from scratch, it would play fine on my dvd-roms. At work, i tried on my dvd-rom over there and it was having a hard time playing it. And then i try it on my dvd player at home, it would play fine from chapter to chapter but then certain areas in each chapter, the video would freeze. What is going on? It's frustrating the sh#$ out of me!

I am using Mainconcept MPEG Encoder or TMPGenc DVD Authoring software to make my DVD-Rs. What kind of settings or things should I be paying attention to when making homemade DVDs? Is it the software that is causing it? I don't think its my DVD-R/RW drive because I can copy movies with it on my dvd blank discs and they come out fine on my dvd player. I need some tippers and help

When you say they play on your DVD-ROM drive, you mean they automatically launch a DVD player (ex., PowerDVD) and play just as any other DVD, or that you have to manually open the the files on the DVD?

If it's the former, I suspect your problem lies in the recording. When recording the TS folders, the files have to be placed in a specific order, or set-top DVDs won't find them. Some burning programs (ex., some old versions of Nero) are only designed to record data DVDs, and won't order the files correctly. When you record an image file, the order of the files is locked, so it works, but when you record TS folders, you need a burning program with specific support for Video DVDs.

If it's the latter, then there's probably something wrong with your authoring. Make sure you have correctly defined the disc's "first play", for example.

I doubt the problem has anything to do with the compression (assuming you used DVD-compliant values).

When you say they play on your DVD-ROM drive, you mean they automatically launch a DVD player (ex., PowerDVD) and play just as any other DVD, or that you have to manually open the the files on the DVD?

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yes, it can play fine on PowerDVD. No, I dont have to manually open the files.

When you created the DVD in Nero, did you specifically choose "DVD Video" as the disc format? When you dragged the TS folders into the compilation, did the icon for the VIDEO_TS folder turn red?

If not, then that's your problem right there: the files aren't being recorded in the right order for set-top players. You need a DVD burning program with support for Video DVDs.

Alternatively, tell your authoring program to create an ISO disc image, and use the option to "burn image" in Nero. That way the order of the files is set by the authoring program, not the recording program.

When you created the DVD in Nero, did you specifically choose "DVD Video" as the disc format? When you dragged the TS folders into the compilation, did the icon for the VIDEO_TS folder turn red?
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- I chose DVD Video. I used TMPGenc to create the dvd files (vob). Then in DVD format video recording in Nero, I just drag the created vob files into the TS folder, which is already read.

rmn wrote:

If not, then that's your problem right there: the files aren't being recorded in the right order for set-top players. You need a DVD burning program with support for Video DVDs.
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-So what program can I use for good recording for video dvds?

rmn wrote:

Alternatively, tell your authoring program to create an ISO disc image, and use the option to "burn image" in Nero. That way the order of the files is set by the authoring program, not the recording program.

RMN
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-I'll try it out tonight and give you the details on the dvd outcome performance. thanks for the reply

I think it worked this time. What i did was encode in DVD MPEG2 setting and not MPEG2. I think the problem lies in these 2 settings. I used Mainconcept MPEG Encoder. I know DVD uses the MPEG2 technology and they are the same thing but this is what I experimented. Then I authored the DVD out of the newly created MPEG2 files out of the DVD MPEG2 setting. THen I made an image out of this and then burned it onto dvd. It played through my standalone dvd player fine, no problems. This may sound confusing so email me for clarity:

If the first file wasn't DVD compliant, the DVD authoring software should have rejected it. I suspect the difference was this time you created a disc image file. The image file ensures that the order of the files inside the TS folder is the correct one. If you burn a TS folder directly (without using a disc image file), your DVD redcording program must be able to identify DVD Video files and oder them correctly.